This year has seen it join forces with the likes of Beth Ditto and Georgina Goodman, but it looks like Evans is set to end this year on an even bigger high with the launch of its latest collection.

Due to hit stores in time for Christmas, the collection fills a much-needed gap in the market for plus-size clothes that are at once high fashion and wearable.

Featuring flirty party dresses, Chanel-inspired jackets and rock-chic tees, every piece is an answer to the prayers of fashion-conscious girls who would otherwise struggle with sizing on the British High Street.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the campaign is modelled by stunning plus-size model Crystal Renn, who oozes confidence and sex appeal in every frame.

At 5ft 9in and 12 stone, the 23-year-old is a healthy size 16, and as one of the industry's most famous plus-size models has appeared on the cover of prestigious titles including Harper's Bazaar and American Vogue.

'They said, "If you want to do well in this business, you have to lose at least nine inches from your hips."

She went on to describe the extreme lengths she went to in order to obtain a fashion-thin body, including a gruelling exercise regime that saw her spend up to eight hours a day in the gym.

'I’m a naturally fairly large girl, and so going down to a size zero (UK size 4) was hell for me, especially in my teenage years when my body needed to be growing,' she told the Daily Mirror.

'I often felt dizzy and weak and after a while my hair started falling out. I had stabbing pains in my stomach, and it would sear through my throat and neck and mouth.

Eating disorder: Crystal Renn became anorexic when she first started modelling as a teenager

'I was starving myself. I only ate vegetables for breakfast, lunch and for dinner. Sometimes I’d have soup – and perhaps jelly for sweetness.

'Because of all the exercise I did with my starving body, I wore away my joints and they ached all the time. My feet shrank a shoe size. It was ridiculous.'

Crystal became dangerously ill, her weight plummeting to below seven stone, but even this was not enough to win her high-fashion magazine work.

'My demeanour was very sour,' she recalled. 'For my job you have to do faces in front of the camera, but I wasn’t aware of my feelings or emotions to enjoy any of it. And I wasn’t successful. I did OK, but I wasn’t major.'

Crystal gained a little weight after friends and family became concerned for her health, but at nine stone, was still well below a healthy weight for her height. Her agents thought otherwise though.

'They put me in a bathing suit so somebody from the agency could scrutinise my body and see what I needed to work on.

'They said at my weight, I wouldn’t be able to do high-end Vogue stuff and said I had to lose weight, or just accept doing commercial catalogue stuff as a plus-size model.'

But her first job as a plus-size model on a glossy fashion magazine proved otherwise: 'It was an editorial shoot, the work I loved to do,' she said. 'It proved to me I was going the right way.'

Now Crystal has written a book, titled Hungry, about her experiences in a bid to change the attitude towards models in the fashion industry.

'I’d love to see them open their eyes to the variety of women. That variety is what’s beautiful.

'Current sample sizes that models are all expected to fit into are ridiculous – a US size zero or British size 4 is the standard. They should go up to a British size 16.

'I’m not saying all models should be size 16, but bigger dresses can be pinned and adjusted, while tiny size zero clothes can’t really be changed. It means all these models starve themselves, like I did, to fit them.'

Crystal has vowed never to starve herself again: 'I am happy and comfortable and my mind actually functions. I am so much sharper now I’m not starving.

'Everyone thinks models are stupid, but a lot of them are just really hungry.'